I'd like to thank Ms. Elias for the prayer and reflections this morning. Ministers' statements. Minister for Health and Social Services.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services is committed to enabling seniors to age in place with dignity as close to home as possible. With an aging population and an increase in the complexity of health care needs, the demand for personal support workers is growing.

Mr. Speaker, personal support workers are essential to the Northwest Territories health and social services system, especially in more remote communities. They are professional care providers equipped with the training and expertise needed to work in critical programs like home and community care, long-term care, extended care, and supportive living. Today, I am happy to announce that Health Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories have amended their Aging with Dignity Bilateral Agreement to include a focus on recruitment and retention measures for personal support workers in the Northwest Territories.

This amendment will provide an additional $5.3 million over five years, from 2024 to 2029, to strengthen and support the growth of the personal support workers workforce here in the territory. This funding will allow us to support these workers in two critical ways:

• By hiring an educator within each health and social services Authority to provide ongoing training and support; and,
• By enhancing education programs offered by Aurora College so that we can increase the number of qualified workers and meet labour market demands across the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, as the only provider of a standardized and structured personal support worker certificate program in the territory, the Aurora College plays a key role in training personal support workers who can use their expertise to help residents age in place and remain in their home communities while delivering quality care based on best practices.

By enabling more training and support, we are working collaboratively to improve the recruitment and retention of personal support workers and provide the high-quality and culturally-sensitive care that residents of the Northwest Territories need and deserve. These efforts not only strengthen our health care workforce; they safeguard the quality of care for vulnerable people, promoting a more resilient and equitable health care system for Northerners, including Indigenous and underserved populations across the territory.

Mr. Speaker, as a proud graduate of Aurora College's nursing program myself, I see the immense value in teaching and training Northerners to care for their fellow community members.

I would like to thank the health and social services authority and the Aurora College for their ongoing efforts to support personal support workers in the Northwest Territories. This agreement represents a significant investment in the health and wellness of Northerners now and for years to come.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member from Range Lake.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT has been sustained since time immemorial on the traditional economies of First Peoples who harvested the fur, fish, timber, and other natural resources that our land is rich in. But as our economy has grown, so has the needs of our labour market, and immigration has become an important part of our story. This is how the Northwest Territories has built a diverse community that it boasts today, because of this welcoming nature of our people that has encouraged migration from every corner of the world. From France to the Philippines, Lebanon to India, these people come to partake in fur trading, mining, commerce, contracting, health care, and more. Indeed, the North has always had a need for hardworking skilled labour, unique from the rest of Canada, which is why it was so shocking that the NWT Nomination Program collapsed in recent months.

Last year, the program began to strain under the weight of so many applicants, first closing temporarily last July and now this year shutting down at the 11th hour thanks to a massive cut in available permits from the federal government despite a huge backlog of applicants who were expecting to submit their paperwork that very night. Now I am hearing from business owners in my riding, who are telling me their plans to expand, have had to be put on hold while concern continues to pour in from frontline workers that departments can't find employees who can support our services. Community leaders and constituents are reaching out almost daily in growing fears as the date of work permit expirations creep closer and closer without any certainty that their paperwork will be processed in time. Collectively, they describe these circumstances as nothing short of chaos.

Mr. Speaker, our government did not build this program up for it to come crashing down overnight. The federal government must recognize that this is not the right way to treat families who want to live here in the NWT. Their human rights and rights as workers must be upheld. I am calling on our Minister to take action, and I know she is passionate about the subject as well, but to take action and ensure that this program will not only be back up and running but will be expanded to meet our growing needs. Let's stand up for northern businesses and show the Prime Minister this program has been a success and prove to local businesses that our priority is their growth and give hope to new Canadians that they are respected members of our community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Members' statements. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to echo some of the comments of my colleague from Frame Lake from our last sitting in the fall of 2024 and some from his predecessor from the last Assembly. Extreme jumps in home insurance costs are a serious issue for many constituents, and I'm left wondering what the GNWT can do to help mitigate these rates from rising out of sight.

The Minister of MACA noted last fall that the GNWT is part of a federal working group that's looking at ways to address problems with obtaining insurance coverage due to flooding, at the very least, and that NWT Association of Communities is also part of this group. This might be a good first step, but now folks who already have insurance are receiving renewals that are skyrocketing their costs and impacting family budgets.

Mr. Speaker, when such renewal came to my mailbox a few weeks ago, my family's home insurance went up by 82 percent compared to last year. After careful review, it's entirely due to the fact that my home is located in the Northwest Territories. I did not take out a claim against my insurance when we evacuated in 2023, Mr. Speaker. I'm highly fortunate that my spouse's family lives in Alberta, and we could stay with them for the duration. There's no other reason for this cost except our location.

I'm lucky, Mr. Speaker. My family's costs are relatively low, and we can still afford this jump; however, I'm concerned for homeowners who might not be so lucky and folks in my riding who are tenants, and there are many, whose landlords might be increasing rental rates to partially recoup costs. In recent weeks, a local friend of mine had a conversation that leads me to believe that 50 percent home insurance jumps are the norm right now.

Mr. Speaker, I tried to read the Insurance Act the other night, and that was a mistake. It's very dense. But from what I can glean, we really don't have many regulatory powers surrounding the insurance industry. What I hope we do have is a Cabinet who will advocate on behalf of Northerners in the face of yet another cost of living pressure. Sometimes it feels like we can never catch a break. Mr. Speaker, I'll have questions for the Minister of Finance. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Members' statements. Member from the Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] INSERT* [Translation Ends] Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Aurora College recently announced that in June that they will be closing 19 community learning centres across the territory, including centres in the Deh Cho riding. Mr. Speaker, these centres offer many programs from basic literacy classes to courses at a grade 12 level. They provide adult learners with the space to complete high school credits, a place where instructors give in-person support, help people develop career plans, and help them make decisions about pursuing post-secondary education.

Community learning centres also put jobs in smaller communities, Mr. Speaker. They support residents who live far away from Aurora College's main campuses. Their location in small communities is in keeping with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action highlighting the need to:

• Provide sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation;
• Improve education attainment levels and success rates; and,
• Respect and honour treaty relationships.

Mr. Speaker, these closures unfairly target Indigenous communities and will make education less accessible for Indigenous learners. Online learning does not work for everyone. Our people need more learning opportunities at home and in our own communities. According to the college, enrolments are dropping and there is an insufficient demand, but the 2022-2023 annual report shows that there were 489 students registered in their either part-time or full-time studies in small communities.

I understand the government doesn't make decisions for Aurora College, but the GNWT currently provides nearly 80 percent of the college's revenue. Small communities are not where you make cuts to education, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member from Monfwi.

Mr. Speaker, [Translation] INSERT* [Translation Ends]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the upcoming closure of all community learning centres across the territory in June. We have heard that Aurora College is ending in-person adult education programs that learning centres provide to Tlicho communities like Whati.

Mr. Speaker, Aurora College received almost $46 million in grants and contributions from the Government of the Northwest Territories in 2024. We should be doing more for small communities, not less. There was no consultation about these closures. Our people would not have agreed. The community learning centres work closely with schools in the communities and gives adults a place to earn high school credits. At the very least, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment should have consulted with residents to evaluate each learning centre on an individual basis. We have not been told what alternatives will be put in place for the services that were provided.

Mr. Speaker, if Aurora College is unable or unwilling to provide services to non-post secondary adult learners, perhaps the funding should go to the school boards. There's 33 communities, and each one have school boards. They are the experts in elementary and secondary education. They have facilities, and they employ teachers. More partnership should be explored between the education authorities and the learning centres so that there are more opportunities for learners in the Tlicho region and other regions as well. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Masi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Members' statements. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we certainly didn't plan it out, but it looks like we're having a bit of a theme day today. I, too, am rising to speak about the closure of the community learning centres, and some concerns I have about the relationship between the Minister and the board and the president of Aurora College.

Now, Mr. Speaker, as my fellow colleagues have already articulated, and I don't need to repeat today, we heard the news about what's happening. What really concerns me is that this news dropped and there was no plan associated with it. The college didn't articulate that, you know, this is a change that's being made, but here's how things are going to be done going forward or the department coming forward and saying, you know, we've spoken with the college, we've worked with the college, this is going to be a change but we do have a plan going forward for how we're going to fill this a gap, for how we're going to ensure the people in the communities are supported in getting the upgrading that they need in order to participate in post-secondary education. So it's really concerning.

I saw in the news the GNWT said they will be examining alternatives, but this is really something, if you're going to drop news like this, you want to see that the government and the board are aligned, that they're talking. As the Member from Monfwi pointed out, the board receives a significant amount of funding from the GNWT. There has to be alignment between the funder and the implementer of programming on what is being done with that money.

Mr. Speaker, we've also seen recently in the news the board speaking about their doubts about the polytechnic transition, about the work that's being done there. And so, you know, there was concern in Inuvik being raised by their town council what's going on with the campus there. There seems to be a lot of increasing disparity between what the Minister is saying the goals of Aurora College are and what Aurora College is doing and what the board is saying, and it concerns me that there is such a lack of alignment between the funder and the organization which implements the programming.

So what is going on here, Mr. Speaker? Aurora College has got to be a significant piece of our workforce development. We've set workforce development as one of our goals in the mandate. We've got to get control of this.

Last but not least, Mr. Speaker, we still do not have a mandate for the college. It's been seven months since the mandate expires. I know that the mandate does say that it continues until the next one is done. So I'll have questions for the Minister later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The smaller communities are struggling with the lack of resources that are available to them in order to better their lifestyles. We have individuals who have expressed interest in abstaining from the use of alcohol and/or drugs, but they have to leave their communities to get counselling services to start the process. Most of the residents do not want to confide in someone that they do not know.

Mr. Speaker, the wealth of resources is within the community where the individual lives mainly because everyone knows each other, and they know where to seek help at a moment's notice. We have the greatest resource people from our communities. They see our struggles and are willing to assist where needed. There are parents, elders, who seem helpless because their children or grandchildren are stuck in a cycle of substance abuse.

Mr. Speaker, I've stated this before, back in the early 1990s, it took a couple from Fort McPherson to look at their present lifestyle and took measures to improve it because it was having a negative impact on the people that they loved. From there, other parents followed their example and took the steps to better their lives. Today I'm proud of their intentions for their immediate families, and now they are concerned citizens who want the best for the community as a whole.

Mr. Speaker, if we can provide funding to the communities who want a healthy community, then we should be targeting those communities. There are resource people who would be happy to serve as counsellors or mentors in trying to help our community members who are striving for a better, healthier lifestyle. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Members' statements. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Due to previous engagements I will be leaving afterwards but I, too, will be joining the theme day on the learning centre closures. I wouldn't be doing my job, Mr. Speaker, if I didn't voice the concerns that I heard recently from constituents in the Sahtu. We are going to see, and layoff slips have been awarded, to nine positions, and the loss of training opportunities by this government and also the closure of these facilities is going to be a loss to the education foundation of each community.

There's projects in the horizon. How do we readiness our workforce in providing opportunity specific to take, for example, the $15 million capital commitment by the community of Fort Good Hope on building a manufacturing building that would produce homes. And as we know, we have a home crisis, a housing crisis, so here's a solution but we need to train our shortfall in trades.

So all in all, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to engaging with the Cabinet colleagues and Minister of education specifically on a solution to address this and aside from the direction given by the board of directors and the staff of the Aurora College. So I look forward to that deliberation. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I will have no questions due to my appointment.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Members' statements. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the ongoing drug issue in our territory. And I know my colleagues have mentioned it several times since this House has been elected, as well as the Premier alluded to it in his address.

Mr. Speaker, I want to speak specifically to Inuvik and to one issue. We have one apartment building up there. It's quite a large apartment building -- it's three floors, I think it has somewhere around 60 units -- and every week I get at least, at minimal two, sometimes every day, e-mails, texts, phone calls, often videos, not only of the drug activity going on in that building, Mr. Speaker, but also the deplorable conditions in that building and how residents are having to live in there. And I bring this building up, Mr. Speaker, because it's a three-storey building, and two of those floors are leased out to the housing corporation and we provide units in there. And a lot of the constituents that send me those e-mails are being sent from residents living in there; they're living in the housing units.

I know the Minister is alive to this. I'm sure she gets just as many e-mails and texts as I get, but I guess today what I'll be looking for is what can we do, what can the NWT Housing Corp do, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that those residents in there are safe? There are families in there. There are elders in that building. I know -- I've been through the building; I know some of the conditions they're facing. The RCMP, to their credit, have been doing an amazing job, you know, the best they can up there. I know they're busy. They've made several busts in that building, which is good. Unfortunately, you know, a week later we see the same activity back in the same units in there again. And, again, I get those updates. And the tenants are sharing those updates with the RCMP as well, which is very helpful. So I'll have questions today, Mr. Speaker, for the Minister of housing on what the housing corp specifically is doing to combat some of this and to certainly combat the conditions in that building. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to close out the week by pointing to a spark of inspiration that we can hopefully all get energized about, if folks will excuse the bad pun.

This week Det'on Cho, which is the economic development corporation of the Yellowknives Dene, presented their plan to pursue a major renewable energy project that could supply much needed clean power to N'dilo, Dettah, Yellowknife, and emerging critical minerals operations in the region. We are well aware of how unreliable our Snare hydro system has become. While Yellowknife has typically met about 95 percent of our electricity needs with hydro power, over the past five years we've experienced drought conditions, likely related to climate change, and as a result the Jackfish diesel backup generators have been much more than backup. They've been burning diesel more than half the time. And that reliance on diesel not only makes climate change worse and it impacts air quality, it's caused costs to skyrocket both in higher power rates for residents and tens of millions of dollars that this government has had to fork out each year in diesel subsidies. Meanwhile, we have the economy to worry about. Diamond mine closures on the horizon and critical minerals companies with opportunities but not enough clean power to assure investors that this is a promising place to pursue. And instead of sitting back and looking to the GNWT to fix the situation, instead of looking to the government for answers, as is so often our default, this Indigenous development corporation has taken the initiative to find a practical solution. Instead of being paralyzed with fear and anxiety about all that we lack, Det'on Cho saw the infrastructure gap as an opportunity, and they're moving to fill it. It's an opportunity for economic development in a diverse range of sectors, from the building and operation of the power installation itself, to the opening of critical minerals opportunities, the potential for storage or data centres, further electrification of transportation, and more. These are the kinds of opportunities that we've been told for more than 20 years that the Taltson expansion would open up, if only we could just wait for those billions of dollars to fall from the federal heavens.

I want to commend Det'on Cho for not waiting, for taking this initiative, and showing ways that we could be practical, nimble, and cost effective in charting our renewable energy future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.